We agree this much: I think AtF is a big testament to why having multiple writers is actually a good thing when it comes to such a sprawling medium. And if at the end of the day Season 8 seems less capacious than the usual Buffy season, I'll attribute it to the same cause.

I stand by the claim that I can tell a story that makes sense of all the canon Spike to me. But I'd have to work much harder (and with a charity for the work that I just don't have right now) to fit this stuff into that narrative. By contrast, I think it's not hard to come up with that handy descriptive paragraph that tells you everything you need to know about *this* Spike.